Roberto Mancini insists he doesn’t fear the axe at Manchester City despite watching his team crash out of the Champions League at the group stage for the second year in a row.

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has plenty to think about after the Blues’ Champions League exit

Roberto Mancini insists he doesn’t fear the axe at Manchester City despite watching his team crash out of the Champions League at the group stage for the second year in a row.

City’s hopes of qualifying for the last 16 were already hanging by a thread after picking up just two points from their opening four group games.

But their fate was confirmed after last night’s 1-1 draw with Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium, leaving the Premier League champions to battle it out with Ajax for a place in the Europa League.

Despite a creditable draw with Madrid, earned after Sergio Aguero’s penalty had cancelled out Karim Benzema’s early strike, Mancini was forced to answer questions about his future after the final whistle.

But asked whether he now feared the sack from owner Sheikh Mansour after a second season of Champions League failure, Mancini hit back.

“No, why? I don’t have a fear for this,” he said.

Mancini admitted this season has been a bigger disappointment than last term, when City were unlucky not to qualify from their group with 10 points.

He was quick to accept that both Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid deserved their places in the knock-out stages this season, but revealed that expectations City could win the tournament in just their second year were unrealistic.

“This Champions League campaign is worse than last season,” added Mancini.

“We have only three points after five games. I think we did some mistakes and also because this group was very difficult.

“We started the group with a defeat in Madrid when we were winning 2-1 with three minutes to go. Probably Real Madrid and Borussia deserve to go through because they played better than us.

“I think the season is long. You have Champions League, FA Cup, Premier League. If we think we can win the Champions League after two years, we are crazy. We need to improve as a team.

“We did some mistakes but we are a good team. For us, this the second time we play in the Champions League. To win a Champions League, first, you have to get to the second stage. After February, everything can change. There are five or six teams better than us. Chelsea tried to win a Champions League for 10 years and probably in their best moments, they didn’t win. They deserved to win a Champions League but they didn’t win.

“They won last year, probably when no-one thought they could win it. The Champions League is strange, it’s difficult. We need to improve. We need to improve our team. We need to understand you can’t do a mistake when you start the group. You need to win the first two games. There are a lot of teams better than us in the Champions League.” Rate the Manchester City players

City face United at the Etihad Stadium just five days after their next Champions League date with Borussia Dortmund.

Mancini, however, insists he will resist the temptation to save his players for the derby with United, revealing his desire to now try to win the Europa League.

With Ajax third in the group on four points, City need to better their result in Madrid when they travel to Germany.

“We wanted to go through but this group was really difficult,” added Mancini. “In the Champions League, you don’t have a chance to recover. In the Premier League, the season is long. If you lose some games, you have time to recover. In the Champions League, no.

“We will try to go to the Europa League. We need to win in Dortmund. If you are in the final it is an important trophy for us.”

Jose Mourinho also gave his backing to Mancini despite a second season of disappointment in Europe.

But the Real Madrid manager, who is reported to be keen on taking David Beckham back to the Bernabeu, admitted if it had been his team who had failed to qualify he, unlike Mancini, would be fearing for his job.

“I think a club must support their manager the maximum they can until the last day,” he said. “When they decide to make a change, we cannot complain and we have to carry on. I admire the fact that the clubs support their managers.

“City is out of the Champions League. But they are out with two big teams. Real Madrid and Dortmund are two very good teams. It’s good that it was City because I believe Roberto can work without any problem.

“If it was Real Madrid, I think the press wouldn’t let me return to Madrid.”

Meanwhile Vincent Kompany is a doubt for Sunday’s Premier League clash at Chelsea after leaving the Etihad Stadium on crutches. The Blues skipper injured his knee during a clash with Cristiano Ronaldo during the second half.

Our newspapers include the flagship Manchester Evening News - Britain's largest circulating
regional daily with up to 130,485 copies - as well as 20 local weekly titles across Greater
Manchester, Cheshire and Lancashire.

Free morning newspaper, The Metro, published every weekday, is also part of our portfolio,
delivering more than 200,000 readers in Greater Manchester.

Greater Manchester Business Week is the region’s number one provider of business news andfeatures, targeting a bespoke business audience with 12,687 copies every Thursday.

Every month, M.E.N. Media’s print products reach 2.2 million adults, spanning from Accrington
in the north to Macclesfield in the south.